


Character Windows #1 - Vrania at Fifteen

by BrennaCeDria



Series: The Hero, The Champion, The Revolutionary [5]
Category: Dragon Age
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-03
Updated: 2012-11-03
Packaged: 2017-11-17 16:14:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/553461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrennaCeDria/pseuds/BrennaCeDria





	Character Windows #1 - Vrania at Fifteen

_Written from a prompt to look at different characters at different ages; this specific one was for my Vrania Amell at age fifteen. I only vaguely reference her age in the dialogue itself, when I mention how long until she expects her Harrowing (spoiler unrelated to this story: her Harrowing happens much earlier than she expects, only about a year or so after this scene). As always, I'm just playing in Bioware's sandbox._

* * *

_Four parts Nevarran dragon's blood lichen; one part mulberry fruit, less the seeds; one part blackberry juice. Powder, crush, and mix ingredients then boil three hours in six parts water. While boiling, prepare fabric to be dyed with a mixture of one part vinegar, five parts cold water, and two parts salted lemon juice._

The girl made a quick count of the mess of containers scattered along her work table and nodded in satisfaction. Everything was here, and the water was already boiling.

"Not again, Vrania," a voice sounded from the doorway, and she rolled her eyes with a sigh. "The Knight Captain's going to send you to Greagior if he finds out you've been wasting Circle supplies for coloring your hair again."

Glancing back to her intruder, Vrania very deliberately poured the crushed mulberries and the blackberry juice into the lichen powder, stirred it a few times, and then dumped it into the boiling pot. "Well, everything's been measured and mixed already, so I'd call it more a waste not to go ahead and finish now that I've gotten this far. Now be good little elf, Alim, and take turns watching this with me while it boils."

The elven apprentice chuckled, but did as he was asked. "What color are you cooking up this time, then? The blue you put in last time still hasn't washed out completely, you know."

"I thought I'd try for a pink this time," she called back, and he realized she'd stepped back into the dormitory. When she returned, she carried a linen shift, a towel, and a box containing her deck of cards.

"For while we wait," she explained, tossing him the cards so she could drape the towel and shift over the back of a chair.

At the end of their third hour, Alim packed up the deck while Vrania changed into the shift she'd brought along. "I'll still never understand how you get so lucky that you're not caught doing this until the next morning, after it's all said and done," he yawned when she came back.

"Never you mind that," the girl frowned, "now hand me that jug with the vinegar preparation in it." Taking it from him, she leaned over one of the basins and carefully soaked her hair with the vinegar, lemon, and salt. Satisfied that she'd not missed any strands, she returned to her chair. "Alright, Alim. Whenever you're ready."

Warmth washed over her scalp down to her shoulders as he cast a quick regeneration spell, which was immediately followed by scalding heat as he carefully ladled the boiling solution over her head. As she hissed in pain, another wave of warmth passed over her as Alim cast a second spell over her to prevent any scarring from the burns and repeated the process until the dye was nearly gone.

"Vrania, why do you do this to yourself?" he asked quietly as he applied the final drops and began to sop up the spilled solution with the towel. "Do you hate your hair so much that it's worth so much pain?"

She laughed so harshly that she almost snorted. "Hardly," she replied. "You've heard how my family found out I was a mage, right?"

"I don't even know where I'm from, how would I know how they found you?"

Vrania shrugged. "I was very young—younger than most children sent to the Circles. I think I was three? Maybe four, I can't remember. At any rate, a messenger girl came to the house one day with a letter for my grandfather. An elf girl, with the most beautiful ginger hair. I remember thinking how fabulous it might be to have hair as fiery as hers was, then suddenly the servants were screaming and hardly an hour later the templars had come to collect me. Without even realizing it, I'd changed my hair to match that girl's just by wishing it."

"So then why do you color your hair like this? If you can change your appearance with magic, why not do it that way, with less pain?"

"Because for the longest time, I didn't know how I'd done it. I had a breakthrough with it about a year ago, but I almost got caught changing back. I can't just wake up one morning all shape shifted—if that's what this even is—with no explanation, not with probably three years before they'll let me take the Harrowing. They'd decide I was a threat and make me tranquil if they found out. So, I started helping in the kitchens. Sneaking berries and other things out to get  _caught_  coloring my hair with. Sure, it's painful when I first apply a dye, but then I can maintain it for as long as I wish by making any new hair growth match the dyed colors."

Frowning, Alim cast a glance back to the main dormitory. "Does anyone else know you can do this?"

"The First Enchanter knows it's possible, because he knows that's how my magic manifested. No one else, and he doesn't know yet that I've learned how to do it at will."

"Just… don't let anyone else find out?" the elf sighed. "At least not 'til you've gotten through the Harrowing?"

"Trust me," she grinned. "If anyone finds out and I don't want them to, they'll be waking up the next morning wondering what they drank the night before. I have very specific contingencies planned for that possibility."


End file.
